Fighting the weather and conditions is an uphill struggle in bouldering, and many times produces an experience that needn’t have been so involved and frustrating. So how do we try to work with nature a little more, and not fight it?

Understanding our true motivations to climb outside, is perhaps one of the hardest things to get to the root of. We’re often bamboozled by goals and objectives, which lead us away from really practicing climbing for the reasons we originally did.

Bouldering outside differs in so many ways from modern gym  climbing, and the gap is only getting larger! With macros and enormous volumes taking centre stage, crimps and foot jibs on steeper walls fading away, and gym grades getting softer than a chocolate teapot, the transition to outdoor bouldering is only getting tougher. 

Walking away from a boulder is one of the hardest things to practice in bouldering. It feels like quitting, and nobody likes to quit. But in reality, it’s one of the biggest skills, and practicing it offers a huge number of benefits, as well as avoiding a bunch of very frustrating problems!